On the Road to Your Heart
by Zinnia99
Summary: This is a oneshot collection revolving around Natsu and Lucy for Nalu Week 2019. Day 2: Strangers: We encounter dozens of strangers every day. The strangers we meet can have a lasting impact on us. It is no different for Natsu and Lucy. Modern Day, No Magic AU
1. On the Road

**Author's Note: **I decided to write for this year's Nalu Week. I couldn't decide on if I should post this within my oneshot collection or create a collection for this year's Nalu Week, so I chose to do both (yay indecisive me), so if you happen to follow **Those Who Bare the Mark of Fairy Tail** and think that this chapter looks exactly the same, well it is. I thought that the Nalu Week oneshots should have their own collection, but also wanted to keep all my oneshots in one place which is why these will be in two places.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.

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**Day 1: On the Road**

Lucy slowly sat up as she gathered her bearings and looked around her. She saw a beautiful night sky filled with hundreds of stars. The stars were twinkling with varying levels of luminescence as they danced around the dark sky that was clear of any clouds. She and Natsu had taken up a job a few days ago and were set to return home the next day. Needless to say, it had been a very awkward week for her.

She looked down at the dragonslayer who appeared to still be in a deep sleep. She chuckled as she watched his hands feel out for her once he registered the empty spot she left when she had woken up. The celestial mage found her fingers going through the sleeping man's pink locks, finding it to be soothing for the both of them as he settled down and she released a quiet sigh.

Lucy thought it was odd that Natsu had left Happy behind for this mission. The blue Exceed seemed to be glued to the dragonslayer's hip at almost any given time. When she had asked Happy to confirm if he didn't want to go, the flying cat seemed almost delighted about staying back at the guild. She hadn't questioned it any further and chalked it up to Happy deciding to spend that free time to win over Carla's heart.

Lucy found that the seemingly odd behavior didn't end with Happy. Natsu had convinced her to walk and skip the train. He pleaded with her and pointed out they would save money by walking instead of taking the train. He also said that the scenery on the way to the town was beautiful and that she would never have been able to see it from the dreadful locomotive. While avoiding the train was normal for Natsu, he was much more persistent in his begging this time around. She had simply shrugged and gave in to his childish antics.

The journey to the job felt a bit _off _to the blonde. Natsu usually walked much faster than her, often being several yards ahead of her. He also tended to be quite the chatterbox, spending the time bragging about how he was stronger than Gray or spewing some random nonsense. However, this trip was not like their usual trips which unsettled Lucy. Natsu's pace was much slower, rivaling hers at times, but she would often have to stop because he would start to lag behind her. He was almost silent the whole first day of walking. She asked him if everything was alright, and he would wave it off and simply say he was thinking about something.

He seemed to ease up the following days and would engage in brief conversations with her spread throughout the day. While it didn't make the blonde feel any better, she figured she would question him on the way home, so she wouldn't distract him from the upcoming job. She could only hope that he wasn't going to be so absorbed in his thoughts that it would affect their performance on the job.

Much to her relief, the job was successful and had no problems. Natsu didn't appear to be plagued in deep thought as he had been in the days leading up to the job which was a good thing because they had to take out several members of a dark guild that were wreaking havoc on a small village. The duo was able to maintain their fighting chemistry and took the criminals out quickly. Natsu had taken out the leader as she focused on the henchman and damage control which worked to their advantage. She had noticed that the pink-haired male kept his eyes on her as she worked her way through her share of the dark guild. She would catch his eye, startling him and causing him to focus on anything else but her. They brought the dark guild into custody and received the reward although there was awkward silence between the two of them as they ate dinner that night.

Lucy's plan of talking to Natsu about what was on his mind seemed to be squashed because their trek back to Magnolia was even more awkward than it had initially been at the start of the week. The only difference was that the dragonslayer walked in step with her instead of being far behind her. She was almost exasperated at this point and hoped that someone at the guild would be able to find out what was wrong with him because it seemed that he wasn't comfortable with telling her what was on his mind. She wished that he would let her help him.

Lucy didn't understand what could possibly be on the seemingly carefree dragonslayer's mind. She knew there was more to him than he let on, but she thought that as his best friend, he would be able to tell her what was wrong. She just didn't understand why he wouldn't open up to her about this. It was driving her crazy thinking about it.

_Was she not as good a friend as she thought she was? Did he not trust her enough to tell her? Did she do something that he didn't like? _It was these kinds of thoughts that had aroused her from her slumber.

"I just wish you would tell me what's wrong," Lucy quietly sighed as she looked down at Natsu, her fingers stopping their gentle massage in his scalp as she decided to go to sleep.

A few hours passed and the starry night sky soon became an ocean of blue with clouds scattered across it. The sun's bright rays signaled the start of a new day. Lucy slowly stirred as she felt the Sun's light beating down on her face. As she groggily wiped the sleep from her eyes, she noticed that Natsu wasn't next to her sound asleep as he normally would be. She looked around and saw that he was leaning against a nearby tree. After stretching as she stood up, she made her way over to where her partner was sitting.

"Hey," Lucy greeted as she sat next to the dragonslayer, "What are you doing over here?"

"Just thinking about something," The boy beside her shrugged, earning a sigh in response to his answer.

"You're really not going to tell me what's wrong, are you?" asked the blonde as she started to stand back but was stopped as she felt fingers wrap around her wrist.

"Luce, wait," Natsu sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "There's nothing wrong, but I'll tell you what's been on my mind."

"Okay," Lucy said as she sat back down, "Go ahead"

"I've been thinking about you. Its been some time now, but all I've been thinking about is you Lucy."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, clearly wanting her companion to elaborate. The boy showed his clear discomfort as he dropped his face into his hands for a brief moment before continuing.

"I've wanted to tell you something this whole week, but I couldn't figure out a way to tell you. I had Happy stay behind, so we could have no disturbances but looks like I still found a way to screw this up."

"Its okay Natsu. Its just you and me. There's nothing to worry about." reassured the blonde as she gently prodded the dragonslayer to continue.

Natsu shifted so he was directly facing Lucy and looking into her eyes. She had never seen him look so stressed out and anxious over anything. She was worried and thought that maybe it would've been better if she had waited until they were back home to pry out whatever it was on his mind. His onyx eyes were burning a hole into her own chocolate brown orbs. He licked his lips as he began to speak again.

"We've been partners for a while now. We've traveled to so many places and fought together in so many different situations. I was just following a lead to Igneel that day in Hargeon; I wasn't expecting to meet you there. I'm sure you weren't expecting to meet me either. We were just two strangers on the road seeing where it would take us. The thing is, I'm glad that we met in Hargeon because I can't imagine my life without you. I love you, Luce."

"Wow," Lucy breathily let out as she tried to find the right words to respond to what Natsu had just confessed, "I was definitely not expecting this."

"This was a mistake," Natsu hastily grumbled as he got up from the ground, "Let's start heading back now."

Lucy slowly rose from the ground with a small smile on her face. She grabbed the dragonslayer and turned him, so he was facing her. His eyes widened as he felt her soft, plump lips on his own chapped ones. His hands moved down to her hips and he let them linger there for a second before he dropped them to his sides.

"I'm glad I ran into you in Hargeon too," Lucy smiled as she pecked Natsu's right cheek, "I love you too."

"Are you sure?" Natsu asked, doubtful of what had just happened.

"Of course I'm sure," Lucy huffed, "I don't go around kissing just anyone, silly dragon."

"Does this make us a couple now?"

"Yes, it does."

"Does this mean I get to sleep in your bed without you kicking me out every morning?"

"Yes," Lucy sighed as she saw where this conversation was heading, "As long as you and that dumb cat of yours keep yourselves in check."

The two started down the dust road as they admired what nature had to offer as they walked back to their guild. Lucy was glad that she had found out what was troubling Natsu so much, grinning to herself as she stole a peek at the dragonslayer at her side. They would definitely have a lot of explaining to do to their guildmates once they arrived, and she knew an annoying blue cat with wings would be at the center of all the commotion bragging about how he knew they were in love all along. The sad part was that Happy had been right, and he was surely going to be rolling in a mountain of fish from the bets he had placed. She wouldn't put it past that conniving feline to gamble on their love life for fish.

She could hear Natsu telling her how he was going to rub it in that pervy ice cube's face how he was better at confessing his feelings to the girl he liked. Lucy sighed at her new boyfriend's childish antics before letting a grin break out on her face. After all, they had found love in rather an unconventional place. They had found their love while they were two strangers on the road, the road leading to other's heart.

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**Author's Note: **I will try to get out the remaining Nalu Week prompts within the next two weeks, so that's one thing you guys can look forward to from me. :) Let me know what you guys thought about this, and feel free to leave any suggestions I should do in the future or edit in this piece. Your feedback is appreciated and helps me improve my writing. Thank you again for reading this.

**Question of the Day: **Are you currently reading Fairy Tail's sequel manga, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest?

I'm reading the manga, and the chapters just can't come out fast enough for me. (If any of you want to chat about the manga or anime, shoot me a PM. I don't really have any social media accounts, so I can't connect with others in the fandom outside of reading fanfiction )


	2. Strangers

**Author's Note: **Well…we all know how bad I am at commitment, so let's not all be surprised that this update is late. I had actually started this chapter weeks ago but didn't really know where I wanted the story to go, so I took a break from it. I don't really plan my stories out before writing which affects me writing. I can start writing one thing and end up with something entirely different when I'm all done which is partially why this chapter took so long getting out. This ended up much longer than I expected, so in exchange for it being late, here is an extra long chapter for you guys.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.

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**Day 2: Strangers**

_We encounter dozens of strangers everyday never really questioning how their presence could impact our own lives. Sometimes that impact is for the better, and other times it is for the worse. _

"Ouch!" cried out a young blonde girl at the playground. The third grader had been on a swing slowly gaining her momentum when she had been rudely pushed off by some older kids.

"Are you gonna call your mama," taunted the mean fourth grader who had shoved her off the swing, "Or are you gonna just sit there and cry like the crybaby you are?"

The girl, Lucy, wiped the tears threatening to spill over as she looked away from her tormentors. She wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing her cry, not today anyway. She didn't understand why the older kids had to be big jerks to the younger kids at the park like herself. Dan Straight and his cronies had been messing with her at school for the last few weeks, and she was hoping that it would end soon because she was growing tired of dealing with them. She didn't know why she was their target; she had done nothing to them to deserve this treatment.

"Leave her alone," shouted a pink-haired boy around Lucy's age as he came charging toward them, "Or, I'll burn you all to a crisp, you jerks!"

Lucy's mouth was wide open in awe as she watched the boy puff his chest out, forming a fist in his right hand. She had never seen this boy at the park or her school before. She went to the same private school as Dan and his friends, but surely, she would have noticed a boy with pink hair if she had seen him anywhere before this. She wondered if he went to the public school, Fairy Tail Elementary which was near the park they were at. There weren't any parks near where she lived, so she had to come all the way to this one which was almost a forty minute drive from her house, making Fridays the only day she could go to the park. Lucy was broken away from her thoughts as she heard snickering from Dan.

"Burn us to a crisp?" Dan smirked, "What are you, a dragon?"

The snickers from Dan's group were cut short as the sound of a fist connecting with bone could be heard throughout the playground. Lucy gasped as she saw blood pouring out of Dan's nose like water from a faucet. The pink-haired boy grinned widely showing off his abnormally sharp canines pridefully.

"Now who's next," asked the boy as he licked his lips, scoping out his next victim, "I'm all fired up!"

Dan growled but he and his friends quickly scattered leaving Lucy and the strange boy alone by the swing set. It looked like big, old Dan was all bark and no bite. If only Lucy was as brave as the boy who came to her rescue. He looked down at her and pulled her up, grasping her hand with his own.

"Thank you so much," Lucy gratefully smiled as she brushed herself off, "What's your na-"

"Lucy!" Lucy could hear her mom calling her from the bench she was seated at, "It's time to go home!"

"I'm sorry," Lucy apologized as she made her way to the older blonde, "That's my mom calling me."

"It's no biggie," the pinkette beamed forgetting to tell Lucy his own name, "Hopefully, we'll get to meet again."

_There are times when you feel like there's someone missing from your life even though you haven't met them yet. Or, sometimes that someone crashes into your life exactly when you need them to._

It was the night of Lucy's senior prom night, and yet, she wasn't dancing in a beautifully decorated venue but was instead sitting at a candlelit table listening to her date chatter about how he was the perfect guy for her and listing all the reasons why he thought that was. He had convinced her that they should leave the dance early and go somewhere to eat because he had a surprise waiting for her after.

Lucy didn't think she would have ended up with Dan given their prior history, but he had somehow won her over. It seemed that the bullying Dan subjected Lucy to was out of embarrassment for his feelings for her. The older boy had developed a crush on the blonde at that age when boys and girls are often at odds with each other. The two of them had gone to different junior high schools and didn't see each other again until high school. Dan worked up the courage to ask her out during her sophomore year.

He had graduated the previous year and was now in college, but he always came to see her when he wasn't busy with school or work. He often would bring up the prospect of marriage and starting a family which was something Lucy couldn't see herself thinking about yet since Lucy still hadn't even decided where she would be going for college. And if he wasn't talking about their future together, he would always talk about how lucky Lucy was to have him as her boyfriend. Sometimes he could be a bit controlling but it was always bearable; Lucy just chalked it up to Dan wanting everything to go the way he intended for them to. Sometimes though he'd brush off her concerns and opinions like they meant nothing to him; it was times like these that made her question if he really loved her and if they would have future together.

"Lulu," Lucy broke herself out of her thoughts as she saw Dan waving his hand in front of her due to her zoning out, "Do you want any dessert, or should we leave now?"

"Dessert sounds good," Lucy nodded as she picked up a menu to browse through the dessert selections, "Give me a minute to see what they have."

"How does the triple chocolate cake sound?" Lucy asked as she looked up at Dan.

"That sounds delicious," Dan replied as he searched for their waiter, "I'll see if I can get the waiter's attention."

A young man with bright pink hair was the only waiter that the couple could see. He wasn't the waiter who served them earlier, but seeing as it was nearing closing time, they figured their own waiter was busy with another table. Dan raised up a hand signaling to the waiter that he wanted him to come over to their table.

"Yes sir," the pink-haired waiter said, "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Why, yes," Dan grinned, "My lovely Lulu said that she would like to have the triple chocolate cake."

"It will be out in a few minutes sir," Natsu, as indicated by his nametag, nodded as he collected the empty dishes in front of them, "Would you like anything else?"

"May I have a water as well?" Lucy spoke up as the waiter shifted the dishes in his arms.

"Okay," Natsu grinned as he looked at the blonde, "I'll be right back with that water."

Lucy felt some sort of familiarity as she took one last look at the waiter as he walked away to get her water. She couldn't help but think that she had seen him somewhere, but she didn't know where. It would be hard not to remember someone with that color hair.

Natsu soon returned with Lucy's water and shot her a charming smile as he set it down on the table, "Here you go." Lucy returned the smile and thanked him. She took a sip as she watched him leave.

Dan looked between the two of them and couldn't help but feel jealousy bubble up within him. Tonight, was supposed to be his special night with Lucy and here was this pink-haired loser trying to get in between him and his dear Lulu. He had planned out a perfect evening, so he could make this a memorable night for the two of them. He was frustrated with how uninterested Lucy had been throughout the night; he was going to have to have a talk with her after they left.

"Your cake is ready," Natsu said as he came up to the table with the cake and another plate in hand, "Enjoy!"

"It looks so good!" Lucy beamed as the cake was set on the table, "Thank you."

"It tastes even better than it looks," Natsu grinned, "I even asked them to give you extra chocolate sauce."

"That's so nice of you!" Lucy exclaimed cheerfully as she looked at the cake in delight.

Starting to feel annoyed by the connection the two seemed to be having, Dan grit his teeth and rudely interjected as he slightly raised his voice, "We're ready for the check now."

"Dan!" Lucy cried out, "Don't be rude."

"No, it's alright," Natsu said coolly with a set jaw, "I'll have your check out in one minute."

Lucy couldn't believe how Dan was acting. Natsu had been nothing but helpful and kind to them during the time that he served them. She had no idea why Dan was being so hostile to a waiter who was providing them with such great service. She had never seen this side of Dan, and definitely did not want to see it again.

Dan watched Lucy angrily dig into her slice of cake as he waited for the pink-haired waiter to come back with the check. She couldn't see that the waiter was a nobody who wasn't good enough for her.

Dan was broken out of thought upon the arrival of Natsu with their check. "Here is your check sir," Natsu gave the check to Dan who had his hand out, "I hope you two enjoy the rest of your night." Dan scoffed as he took the exact amount of money that their bill totaled to making it clear that he would not be leaving a tip.

Natsu sported a fake smile as he took the money from Dan to complete the transaction. Dan held a smirk as he watched a disappointed frown grace Natsu's face as he left the table. There was no way that Dan was going to give that jerk money. He looked around at the nearly empty restaurant, it seemed there was only one other table still present and the employees were starting to clean up other areas of the establishment.

Natsu came back to the table to give Dan his receipt. "Here," Lucy started to dig into her purse to give the friendly waiter a tip since it looked like her boyfriend wasn't going to after the show he had just put on, "You provided us with excellent serv- "

"What do you think you're doing?!" Dan hissed as he grabbed Lucy's hand that was in her purse, "You're not giving him any money!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" snapped Lucy as she yanked her arm away from Dan and shoved some bills into Natsu's hand as she stood up, "I want you to take me home now."

Dan got up and shot a glare at Natsu as he shoved him in the shoulder storming past the waiter. He could feel the eyes of the other people in the room on him as he made his way out. He was fuming. Never had he been so humiliated in his life. He had to show Lucy that her behavior was unacceptable.

He saw Lucy leaning with her back against the passenger door of his car. He moved quickly across the parking lot and was approaching Lucy when she suddenly turned her head to face him.

"What's your problem?" Lucy asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, eyes narrowed as she looked at him.

Refusing to answer her, he moved closer to her. Lucy backed away as she saw how angry he looked. She had never felt unsafe around Dan but the enraged look on his face scared her. She started to back away from him as he drew closer.

Grabbing her arm, Dan growled, "You're not going anywhere!"

"Let go of me!" cried Lucy as she struggled against Dan's seemingly vicelike grip.

"You've been a bad girl tonight, Lulu. I think that I'm going to have to punish you. You and that pink-haired freak embarrassed me, and that is not okay."

"Please stop this, Dan. It wasn't fair of you to be so rude to a waiter who did his job. He didn't deserve to be treated that way."

Dan's eyes darkened after the words left her mouth, "What did you say?"

Dan loosened his grip from the arm he was holding onto. Lucy's heart had started to beat so quickly that it felt like it would burst out of her chest. She watched him as he watched her, neither making a move.

_SLAP_

It had happened so fast that Lucy hadn't seen it coming. One second she is looking into Dan's eyes hoping that he would calm down and apologize for what happen and the next she is knocked to the asphalt of the restaurant parking lot, holding her cheek. She doesn't see the foot making its way to her until its too late as Dan lands a rough kick into her stomach. By this time she's struggling to get back to her feet and is trying to catch the breath that has escaped her lungs.

There's a flash of pink that makes its way into her vision. There's something so familiar about this burst of pink, but she still can't quite place her finger on it. Its warm and inviting and for some reason, Lucy knows that everything will be okay now that the mysterious burst of pink has arrived.

Unknown to her, she has sustained a concussion from her head hitting the ground. She feels her vision start to blur, but she reaches up trying to grab something, anything. The last thing she sees before blacking out is a red dragon and the color pink getting closer to her.

_Sometimes its best to put yourself out there and take the risk of meeting a stranger. And sometimes the person you think of as a stranger isn't a stranger at all…_

Lucy was sitting on a stool at the counter of a bar inside of a club her friends had dragged her off to. She was a bit out of her element here, preferring to keep to herself and stay at home on the weekend. Her friends had convinced her that she needed to get out of her house and have some fun. She knew that what they really wanted was for her to meet a guy, so she wouldn't be alone when they were out on dates with their own boyfriends.

Who were these friends, you may wonder? The first was Levy McGarden whom she met during her college years. Levy shared Lucy's interest of literature and they would often be in the same classes due to the overlap of Lucy's creative writing major and Classics minor and Levy's linguistic and history majors. Levy was a short and petite girl with medium length wavy blue hair often wrapped in a bandana. She was dating Gajeel Redfox, a tall and burly young man who looked tough as nails and looked like he quite literally ate them for breakfast. He had many piercings and tattoos and crimson red eyes. It often baffled people when they would see the couple out together.

Next was Cana Alberona, a brunette that Lucy had befriended at her job as a magazine editor. Cana was crude, outgoing, and loved to party. The only thing she loved more than going out was drinking, and boy, did she drink. There had been many nights where Cana would get free meals from guys who she challenged to drinking contests. Cana didn't want to be in a committed relationship because she felt like she hadn't met "the one" yet, so she hooked up with guys here and there when she wanted to.

The last friend in their group was Juvia Lockser. Juvia also attended the same college as Lucy and Levy, but they didn't become friends until their third year. Juvia happened to be the star of the swim team and Lucy met her for an interview for one of her journalism classes. Juvia and Levy also hit it off, and soon the three of them would become close friends for the last two years of school. Juvia was tall and had blue hair that fell down her back in beautiful mermaid waves. She was currently seeing Gray Fullbuster who was tall and lean, and looked like the brooding type but was really a softie when it came to Juvia.

She could understand why her friends were worried about her. She usually only went to work, the grocery store, and the occasional movie with her friends. After the whole Dan incident in high school, Lucy had decided to take a break away from boys and focus on her college education and career. She didn't like to intrude on their double date outings which they had often even though they were usually the ones who invited her.

Lucy searched for her friends from her spot at the counter to see if she could find any of them. After a few minutes and coming up short she decided she'd order herself a drink to at least enjoy herself somewhat in the noisy and crowded atmosphere she was in. A few minutes later with her martini in hand, as she was about to take a sip, her drink was snatched from her grasp.

"Who do you think you are to take my drink?" huffed Lucy as she heard a familiar chuckle.

"There you are!" Cana chirped happily as she downed the martini, "We've been looking for you."

Lucy turned around and was greeted with the sight of her friends who she had been looking for just minutes before. Cana was standing with the martini glass in hand while Juvia and Levy had taken the stools to Lucy's right.

"What are you doing here at the bar, Lucy?" asked Levy, "You're supposed to be out mingling, scoping out potential matches."

"You guys know this isn't what I would consider fun."

"We do, but we want you to try and put yourself out there. You'll never know what's out there until you go and see."

Lucy could see Juvia wiggling in her seat and quirked her eyebrow and the bluenette's odd behavior, "Is there something you want to share with the rest of us, Juvia?"

"Juvia is sorry, but she invited Gray-sama."

"Juvia!" chided Levy, "It was supposed to be a girl's night."

"Juvia knows, but she thought it would be fun for the boys to come."

"Gajeel's coming too?" blushed Levy, obviously excited that she would see her boyfriend.

"Gray-sama said that Gajeel and another one of his friends were already over hanging out, but that they would like to come and meet us here."

"I wonder if this friend of Gray's is hot." Cana said with a pointed look in Lucy's direction.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lucy said with a sigh.

"This mystery friend could be the one you're looking for," Cana explained as if it was the most obvious thing, "I say you wait for this friend of Gray's to come because I have a good feeling about this."

"Cana is right." Levy agreed with the brunette, "He's a good guy since Gray knows and hangs out with him. That's exactly what you need."

The girls turned their head as they heard a loud squeal come from Juvia who was waving her hands in the air, "Gray-sama, we're over here!"

The group could see the three men make their way through the ocean of people in the club. The first they could see was Gajeel who towered over most people, followed by Gray who was walking with his hands in his pockets, and lastly, a man with pink hair. Lucy felt as though she had seen this pink-haired man elsewhere but as she racked her mind for the answer, she came up with nothing.

"Whoa there, Juvia," chuckled Gray as he gave his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips, "I'm here."

"Hey Shrimp," Gajeel smirked as he rested his arm on Levy's head, "Did ya miss me?"

"No, you big lug." Levy said as she playfully crossed her arms over her chest, "I didn't notice you were gone."

"Funny," Gajeel joked, "I opened my gym bag and didn't see you there, so I thought I lost ya."

"Ugh, gross metalhead," groaned the pink-haired man in disgust, "Keep the lovey stuff to a minimum or else I'll puke."

"Right," Gray sighed as he shot a look at the pinkette, "This is my friend, Natsu."

The pinkette's gaze lingered on Lucy as everyone made their introductions. He couldn't believe but here is the girl that's been on his mind for almost his whole life. He shifted his weight to his other leg as he processed what was happening.

He didn't realize it, but Lucy was able to see his right bicep from her current position. It seemed like time stood still as he waited for her to introduce herself to him because something had caused her to pause before she spoke next.

"That dragon, I've seen it before," Lucy nervously brushed her bangs out of her face, "But, do I know you? I'm Lucy, by the way."

The others in the group looked surprised by the blonde's revelation. Neither Lucy nor Natsu had ever mentioned knowing the other, so this had to be a coincidence, right? Cana hid a smile as she took a sip from her beer. The group shifted their attention to Natsu, waiting to hear his answer.

Natsu gave her a wide, toothy grin which faded into a straight line, "Yeah, we know each other. We've met a few times under not-so-great circumstances."

"What do you mean?"

"We first met at a playground when I was in third grade. There was a group of older kids picking on you, and I helped you out. You left before I could tell you my name. Don't you remember, Luigi?"

Lucy let out a small gasp of realization as it dawned on her that he was indeed the same boy that had helped her all those years ago. She knew there weren't many people with those pointy teeth and bright pink hair.

"What about the other times?" inquired Lucy, wanting to know when else she had met this mystery man.

Natsu shifted out of a slight discomfort, uncomfortable with telling her about their last encounter, "I think it was your prom night. You were dressed really nice and with your boyfriend."

"You were our waiter!"

"Yeah, I had to take over because your original waiter had a family emergency to take care of. I thought it was you when I first went to serve you, but I knew for sure once that jerk of a boyfriend you had started making a scene."

"Were you the one who saved me?"

Natsu's eyes darkened and he clenched his fists as he started to recall more of the events from that night, "Yes, that was me. My boss let me skip closing up and I could hear you calling for help. I ran over there and it seems we had a round two to our original fight from the playground. I knocked him right back down to the ground and made sure he knew not to mess with you again. I called your family and took you to the hospital but left because I didn't want to disturb you."

"The last thing I remember from that night is a red dragon that looks like your tattoo." Lucy admitted as she eyed the dragon that had been etched into her memory since that fateful day, "I'm so sorry for dragging you into that mess and not thanking you for all your help that night."

"Don't worry about it," Natsu smiled, "I'm just glad I was able to get you out of there in time."

"It almost seems like fate brought you two together," Cana smirked as she pushed the other two couples away, "Time to let these two get reacquainted."

Lucy watched as her friends disappeared into the dance floor. She returned her gaze to Natsu and saw his onyx eyes looking intensely into her own chocolate brown orbs. "Take a seat, Natsu," Lucy gestured to the stool next to hers, "I'd like to get to know my savior better."

"Only if you let me buy your drinks tonight."

"Deal, but I don't think drinks will be enough."

Natsu raised his eyebrow in confusion as he looked at the beautiful blonde in front of him. _Is she flirting with me? _

"What do you mean?"

"I think a date would be more fitting for the man who saved me not once but twice What do you think about that?"

Natsu fidgeted in his seat ever so slightly. He definitely wasn't expecting this to happen and certainly not tonight. How had he gotten so lucky? He barely knew this girl, but something about her kept drawing him in.

"Next Friday, I'll pick you up from your house at 7. It will be a surprise."

"Sounds great," Lucy said as she stood up, "I have one more thing for you."

Natsu was curious as to why she had gotten up. _Was this a setup and she was actually going to leave? _Needless to say he was surprised when he felt soft lips against his own and fingers tangled in his hair. Lucy's cheeks were stained a pale pink with a growing blush. This wasn't how she normally was, but she decided to heed Cana's advice and dive right in.

She had returned to her seat and stole a glance at Natsu's equally red face. There was definitely something worth exploring when it came to Natsu. _Why else would the universe keep throwing him at her?_ Maybe tonight wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"So, what will your first drink be?"

This question led to a night where two strangers learned about each other, sharing their life's experiences with the other. This was the start of not just a relationship but also a relationship that many seek to find but few rarely acquire. They couldn't deny the connection they felt when they were around each other. It was as if two halves were joined together, forming a perfect whole.

_Were they ever really strangers when they were meant to be together?_

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thank you for reading, and please feel free to let me know what you thought about this. I'm also open to any oneshot or overall story idea that you guys want to see written.

I do have good news for you guys. I have a brief summary for the rest of the Nalu Week prompts which will help me write quicker. I will try to have the next one out by Friday.

**Question of the Day: **What character do you want more backstory/information about? (I honestly wish we could learn something about Levy's past)


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